Greg and Mary Sonnier, restaurateurs for 13 years before Gabrielle, their acclaimed Mid-City restaurant, was inundated with floodwater from the levee breaches, have abandoned plans to reopen the restaurant at 438 Henry Clay Ave., the property they purchased in March of 2006 for $700,000.

Greg Sonnier has posted "For Sale" and "For Lease" signs outside the building at that address. After a year of conflict with neighbors and City Hall surrounding his plans for Gabrielle, the chef concluded that he can't move forward with plans to open a restaurant on the Uptown property, which is just a short walk from his family's home.

"I can't open any business there," he said. "Whatever Greg Sonnier does there is just going to create controversy."

STAFF FILE PHOTOThis former reception hall at 438 Henry Clay Ave. was to serve as the new home of Gabrielle, but neighborhood opposition and a bureaucratic zoning snafu derailed the plan.

The Sonniers bought the property, formerly the Uptowner reception hall, knowing that it wasn't zoned to be a restaurant but presuming that the licensing would allow them to open one. It turns out that the wording on the license is deceptive. Since the New Orleans Department of Revenue, which issues occupational licenses, does not have a category for reception hall, it issued the Uptowner a restaurant license even though, in the eyes of the city, the property wasn't technically licensed to be one.

Then, as the Sonniers wrestled with the lack of uniformity between the city's permitting and zoning processes, another obstacle emerged in the form of neighborhood resistance to a new business at 438 Henry Clay Ave.

A group of neighbors coalesced around their concern that a restaurant run by Sonnier, a James Beard Award-nominated chef, would be a disquieting presence in the largely residential neighborhood. Among those opposing Gabrielle's opening on Henry Clay was Eddie Sapir, former City Council president.

By last fall, signs posted on the front lawns of homes lining the blocks around the disputed address proclaimed Gabrielle was not welcome because "the law doesn't permit it."

In February, Audubon Riverside Neighborhood Association (ARNA) held a public hearing to help broker a compromise between those in favor and those opposed to Gabrielle's Uptown rebirth. The fiery debate grew particularly heated on the issue of parking and zoning. The 438 Henry Clay property does not include a parking lot, and since the public forum, new anti-Gabrielle signs, these protesting any attempt to rezone the property, have appeared on neighborhood lawns.

ARNA President Andrew Pilant said his organization was on the verge of hammering out an agreement that he believed would address the concerns of the neighbors and pave the way for the Sonniers to move successfully through the city's rezoning process.

"But it never got to that point," Pilant said, "because the Sonniers decided to throw in the towel."

Greg Sonnier concluded that the forces allied against him would prevent him from successfully rezoning his property, which would ultimately require City Council approval. In recent weeks he has expressed particular frustration with District A Councilwoman Shelley Midura, who he believes could have helped alleviate months of community strife by stepping into the fray.

"We're well-established business people with a national reputation who want to open a first-class restaurant in her district," Sonnier said. "The city issued us a license that has no meaning, and Shelley refuses to get involved."

Midura contends that Sonnier's problem is cut-and-dry: His property isn't zoned to be a restaurant.

"He has asked me to give advance approval for a zoning change before going through the process of approval for a zoning change," she said. "I can't do that."

The chef, who cut his teeth working under Paul Prudhomme, is currently exploring his options. They include opening Gabrielle in another location, teaching or even working for someone else. He recently went on his first job interview in 20 years.

"I'm trying to mop up the mess from down the street," he said, "but I've got to move on."

Read more about the Sonniers' losing battle to reopen their acclaimed restaurant Uptown Wednesday in The Times-Picayune Living section.